Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Indigo turns 21 with special guests tasting

Published: 11 September, 2024

Indigo Wine celebrated 21 years in business this week via a special gathering of the wines and winemakers which helped to put the business on the UK map.

Roussillon takes to road with Edinburgh and London tastings

Published: 17 June, 2024

Wines of Roussillon’s forthcoming UK Roadshow for press and trade is readying to land later this month, with Edinburgh (24 June) and London (26 June) in its sights.

‘Rare gems’ on show at Keeling Andrew tasting

Published: 17 April, 2024

Keeling Andrew’s trendy portfolio attracted a suitably young and vibrant crowd at its tasting in Holborn yesterday (16 April), where the business took the opportunity to highlight some of its under-the-radar producers while honing in on specialisms in Burgundy and Champagne.

Buyer’s Spotlight with Jason Millar: Portugal needs a boost

Published: 16 April, 2024

When I first visited Lisbon in 2014, I was able to get an Airbnb in Bairro Alto for €20 a night and there was only one cool wine spot in town. Now there’s an official Wines of Portugal tasting room on the waterfront, a decade of tourism has transformed the country and contemporary wine bars are as easy to find as bacalhau.

North South celebrates ‘Ten Years Young’ anniversary

Published: 08 March, 2024

North South Wines marked its first decade yesterday (7 March) with its most comprehensive portfolio tasting to date, capped by a lively party at Covent Garden’s Bunga Bunga.

Julian Momen on ‘re-focusing’ Enotria

Published: 28 February, 2024

Enotria & Coe’s new CEO has spent the months since his inauguration working on honing a back-to-basics approach while refocusing parts of the business which “felt a bit unstructured”.

Friday read: Furmint February in the spotlight

Published: 23 February, 2024

With its endless grey skies and pervading gloom, February doesn’t offer much to raise the spirits, but wine lovers can now at least associate the month with Hungary’s best-known grape. Furmint February was launched here six years ago by Wines of Hungary UK to promote awareness and consumption of the variety once best known for sweet Tokaji (Aszu), but now appearing in elegant dry wines from the variety’s native Tokaj region, with its rich volcanic soil, but increasingly across Hungary, including in Somlo and Eger.

New Zealand eyes continued growth as annual tasting returns

Published: 26 January, 2024

The New Zealand London Annual Trade Tasting is making its return to Lindley Hall next month where it will be showcasing wines from 70 producers covering the whole of New Zealand.

Penedès heads to London with Xarel.lo under spotlight

Published: 25 September, 2023

DO Penedès is to host its first tasting in London, with a special focus on the Xarel.lo grape.

WSTA speakers sign up for SITT Autumn

Published: 23 August, 2023

The Specialist Importers’ Trade Tasting can reveal that the WSTA’s Miles Beale and Simon Cairns will be joining Harpers at its autumn edition, taking place in both London (18 September) and Manchester (20 September).

Friday read: Brushing up on teeth and tasting

Published: 31 March, 2023

West London Wine School’s wine educator and dentist Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen and emeritus professor of dentistry Nairn H F Wilson of King’s College London give the low down on keeping your gnashers bright and healthy in a wine-slaked world.

Kai Mayfair sommelier takes home the 2023 UK Ruinart gong

Published: 22 February, 2023

Mateusz Kowlczyk of Kai Mayfair has been announced as the winner of the 2023 UK Ruinart Sommelier Challenge, taking home the title in the seventh year of the competition.

Harpers Round Table: Selling Lebanon

Published: 20 February, 2023

Lebanon has moved on from being a ‘Bordeaux tribute act’ to encompass myriad styles and varieties suited to its diverse terrain and should now be selling its differences to the world.

Bibendum takes the ‘art of (selling) wine’ in a new direction

Published: 27 January, 2023

Bibendum has just closed the cap on its first tasting concept of 2023, with a roster of likeminded events lined up for the year ahead as the company diversifies its annual tasting format.

Jump into the world of French wine at VIN

Published: 06 January, 2023

The UK trade is being invited to uncork some of France’s best kept secrets alongside enduring favourites at VIN, next month’s trade tasting event, which will bring together 50 producers and importers.

Losh and Goode blend Chenin from SA and Loire

Published: 11 December, 2022

Few would deny that Chenin Blanc is one of the world’s greats when it comes to grape varieties, but most would recognise that it sits far behind the likes of Chardonnay and Sauvignon in terms of recognition. Chenin is, of course, the de facto flagship grape of South Africa, also playing a strong role in the Loire. Here, in appellations such as Vouvray, Saumur, Angou, Savennieres, and others besides, the best – as with their Cape cousins – are world class, capable of developing great complexity while ageing for a very long time.

Amarone has an image problem, says leading producer

Published: 03 October, 2022

The Amarone della Valpolicella category needs to embrace change and restore its former global cachet, according to Stefano Cesari, owner of Brigaldara winery in the Veneto region.

Naked Wines brushes off CEO woes for first standalone tasting

Published: 22 September, 2022

It was a marriage of convenience. Naked Wines needed the cash injection. Majestic needed the online know-how in order to expand its digital footprint. After the pair’s relatively amicable breakup in 2019, Naked Wines is now very much looking to re-establish itself as a solo entity with a serious portfolio that can engage even the most sceptical wine lovers.